I survived another February!!

I don't know what it is about the shortest month of the year but it's always a hard one for me. I used to blame it on the weather because February is usually a very dreary month in Michigan. This year however we were lucky to have a lot of very bright sunny days so maybe it wasn't the weather. Still I feel glad to have that month behind me and now I can look forward to spring!!

I didn't get all of the things I wanted to accomplish done in the month. I didn't get my ornament finished. I picked an ornament that was a bit too big to do in a month and I didn't devote the amount of time to it I should of it. Still I'm close so maybe in the first week of the month it will be done and in March I'll pick something a little simpler.

Right now I"m working on a model for a friend. I'm making pretty quick progress. It's blackwork, not something I do often and I forgot how quickly it moves when you are only doing outlines and the patterns tend to be symmetrical so you don't have to look at your chart as often. I also finally figured out the pattern and am working on the diagonal so I can go from one motif to the other. Once I figured that out I moved pretty quick from there. I don't think I can post a picture of it but it's cute if you are Irish(or Italian on another piece I will be working on next).

I started Forest Goddess. I really needed to start it. It was calling to me and calling to me and the colors are so lovely so I just had to. I've only devoted less than hour or so a day to it. I usally work on it in there evenings, after the boys are in bed and before DH comes to bed. It's not much so far but I love this color(DMC 3712). It's so cheerful:


"Forest Goddess" Designed by Nora Corbett, Copyright Mirabilia Designs

I'm doing it on a Natural colored Quaker Cloth. Not only do I think the colors will be lovely on it, I had it in my stash. I was surprised to discover that Natrual was the recommended color, though in a 32 ct linen, instead of my 28ct quaker cloth. On one BB I visit I see so many WIP of this on all these beautiful hand dyed fabrics and I feel like my piece is the ugly stepsister or something. My budget just won't allow such an indulgence right now and in reality I'm not sure if I want the bulk of my XS budget to go to just the fabric. I did one piece on hand dyed fabric but that was only because it was on sale and much cheaper than a linen and also it was very subtle. I don't want to share my picture with them there so I'll keep it here in my blog.

I'm still pondering the bead situation on it. It uses not only regular seed beads but Pebble Beads as well so that is a little more tricky. I'm thinking I'm going to take my finished piece to the bead store when lent is over and just pick from there. Online pictures is just too hard to get a true idea of what they look like.

March is certainly coming in with a bang. We woke to an ice storm this morning. They said it was coming and I heard it rain over night. It took Dh a good 10 minutes to get into the car, it was so iced over. He had an early meeting today so he left extra early just to make sure he didn't have to rush. He also works well north of our house so the weather is often different out there than here. He made it work safe but he said it was dicey in spots.

The street where the bus picks up was a sheet of us and I watched so many people slide through the stop sign. They needed to slow down is what they needed!! It made me glad that I didn't have a car because I certainly did not want to drive in weather like this. When I got home it started to pour, more sleet, and we even had some thunder. IT has since changed over to snow.

I had to make another call to my CC company this morning. I've said it before, but I found Citibank the most difficult people to do with. I've never been made to feel like such a deadbeat in my LIFE. They are so rude and they talk to you in the most condenscending tone. They just make you feel like total crap. It makes no difference to them that I've made a payment EVERY month since DH got laid off. I feel sometimes like I should of just blown them off completely and the result would be the same.

I'm still trying to work out a payment plan with them. I've been getting conflicting opinions from some. My BIL, who filed bankruptcy a couple of years ago, said that maybe outside collections might be a better option. They are more flexible(usually) and they have a tendency to stop a lot of the fees/interest and will often settle for less than the original debt. At this point my debt is almost 50/50 between what I charged and what they have tacked on in fees in the last 9 months. It makes me really angry that if we could of worked out a payment plan in the beginning or if they could of deferred one/two payments I wouldn't be so far behind.

The woman I spoke to this morning was by far the most obnoxious person I've talked to. When I asked to be transferred to someone else she refused and in the end, hung up on me....grr. I got a better person and while I wasn't to work anything out this time, I have to call again after the 15th, when the card cycles again and try then. I think we might be able to work out something and if not then after April 12th it will then go to outside collections. I will then get to see if my BIL is right to or not.

I still sometimes feel like I will never get out from this and that my credit rating is shot forever. They make it so difficult to get back on track once you fall behind. It's such a huge weight on me that it often makes it hard for me to sleep and to eat. DH says I need to worry less but sometimes it's really hard not to. It's slightly better now that I don't have a phone, just my cell phone, which they don't know I have. Having them call me 5X a day would not change the situation one bit...

And if one more person suggests a part time job to me I'll scream. I still have G home in the morning, I don't have a second car, the one car we do have is 48 miles away M-F(sometimes on Saturday) from 7am-6:30pm so what would you like me to do? On top of that jobs aren't exactly growing on trees right now, especially for a SAHM who's been at home nearly 9 years. I two friends, with job histories, degree's even, that are struggling to find a job. With summer coming up child care would eat into any income I could make so if I had a job, my CC wouldn't get any more money and we'd probably be in worse shape. Maybe in the fall when G is in school all day along with Donovan I can try. Maybe Merry Maids, or soemthing with flexiable schedule because I would still have vacations, holidays, snow days, and sick days to contend with. Of course hopefully by then we will be in much better shape. I just have to relax, I made the call, I make the effort every month, and I can't do a thing again until after 3/15 so I have to try to let it go until then....I need to worry less, have more fun!!

The furnance guy is coming on Saturday and I don't know if it's just me or what but every since he was here the other day our furnance sounds so LOUD. It really sounds like it's dying. We've cut our gas usage by 1/2 so I don't know if we could cut it down anymore or save any more money with a more efficent furnance. My real hope is we could keep it a bit warmer during the day, 60 is just chilly sometimes, and not pay more than we are now. It's funny that I'm excited at the thought of keeping my house at 64!! Of course with the new furnance it will probably mean an early spring here in Michigan but that will be ok too!!